Why will Charles Taylor be jailed in Britain?

Charles Taylor, seen here in his heyday in 1997, is heading for a British prison

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor - convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes during the Sierra Leone civil war - will serve his sentence in a British jail. Why is this and where might he be housed?

In the spring of 2006, Charles Taylor's luck finally ran out.

The one-time president of Liberia was arrested and handed over to Irish soldiers representing the United Nations, and found himself in custody for the first time.

Because of fears his trial could renew instability in West Africa, Taylor, 64, was put on trial at a special UN-backed court in The Hague.

The Netherlands only agreed to host his trial as long as he was imprisoned in another country if he was convicted.

In June that year, the UK government offered to house Taylor in a British jail if he was convicted.